Public relations is the distribution and management of news about a business or individual. Information is disseminated strategically to media outlets to build reputation and increase visibility. This enables a company or individual to construct their own messages to influence public opinion and manage their reputation.

PR can positively influence journalists, customers and stakeholders about your operations, services, culture, charitable activities, new products and more. By carefully crafting your messages, a PR professional can help to position your business as a leader in its field. Thought leadership activity such as interviews, opinion pieces and features can shine a light on the expertise and experience within your organisation and ensure you are the ‘go-to’ spokespeople on breaking news that concerns your industry. PR builds your reputation without costing anything, resulting in an increase in brand recognition that leads to improved sales.

When it comes to engaging potential new customers it’s essential that your copy is well-written, entertaining and informative with great grammar, punctuation and spelling. A clear and consistent voice will help establish your brand, making it stand out from the crowd whilst building trust with new and existing customers. Don’t forget that your business copy is also vital in persuading people! Helping to boost sales and increase profits.

Marketing is the process of spending money on various measures to promote a business and its services in order to increase sales. Public relations focuses more on building and maintaining the positive reputation of a business through free media coverage, in order to encourage potential customers towards the marketing streams in place.

Public Relations professionals have knowledge of what information journalists need and how they use it to produce newsworthy stories. The ‘relations’ in PR is an essential part of the job – PR professionals know who to contact, by building productive long-term relationships with publications in order to secure brilliant coverage that benefits both their client and the journalist. We also know how to write your news concisely with the right keywords and links, giving media outlets the information they need whilst still representing your brand personality and serving SEO.

There are many ways to measure the success of a campaign. With traditional PR these are usually: the number of pieces of coverage, the target publications that feature the story, number of name checks, the combined reach of the coverage (readership) and website visits that coincide with the campaign.

Digital PR metrics include Google analytics (website traffic, domain authority, Google ranking), social media engagement and follows, online coverage, brand mentions and online sales stats.

Be ready to share your company news and updates – even developments you may not deem as newsworthy could make a great story! Put some time aside to discuss new products, new starters, upcoming events, deals or any other business information with your PR professional on a weekly basis so they can work their magic.

Professional, high-resolution photographs and tangible statistics are key to the success of a story, so investing in research and photography can help to ensure great results. Don’t be shy! Thought leadership PR hinges on senior members of your team putting themselves out there to secure interviews and opinion pieces.